CSCAP

Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP)

The Pacific Forum is also proud of its leading role in the formation, in 1993, of the multinational Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP), then the first and today still the leading region-wide forum aimed at fostering multilateral security dialogue in the Asia-Pacific region. Member committees have been established in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, North and South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, U.S., and Vietnam. Taiwan scholars also participate, increasing CSCAP's inclusivity. CSCAP members promote regional security and stability through dialogue, consultations, and cooperation on concrete policy issues and problems of mutual concern.

CSCAP's research and analyses support and complement the efforts of regional governments and official multilateral dialogue mechanisms, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which routinely brings together senior foreign ministry and defense officials from throughout the Asia-Pacific to discuss regional security issues and concerns. Pacific Forum President Ralph Cossa is a member of the ARF's Experts and Eminent Persons Group.

U.S. Member Committee (USCSCAP).  As one of CSCAP’s founding institutions, the Pacific Forum also manages USCSCAP, whose membership includes more than 150 scholars, security analysts, and corporate executives, as well as current and former government officials with expertise in Asia-Pacific security issues.  USCSCAP is chaired by former Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly; the vice chair is Bates Gill, former Freeman Chair at CSIS.  Pacific Forum CSIS President Ralph A. Cossa serves as Executive Director.  USCSCAP meets biannually, usually in Washington, D.C.

International Study Groups.  CSCAP’s primary work occurs through International Study Groups that delve into specific issues and problems.  These groups serve as region-wide multilateral fora for consensus-building and problem solving, and often address issues that are too sensitive for official dialogue. The Pacific Forum coordinates U.S. expert participation in the study groups, which focus on counter-proliferation (see more below); energy security; good governance, both in East Asia and in Oceania; transnational crime, including human trafficking; maritime security cooperation and capacity building; and the examination of future prospects for multilateral security cooperation, especially in the areas of confidence-building and preventive diplomacy, and with particular focus on Northeast Asia, where CSCAP efforts try to support the on-going Six-Party Talks, aimed at Korean Peninsula denuclearization. Under the Study Groups, CSCAP Experts Groups are occasionally assembled to look in more detail at technical issues.

CSCAP Study Group on Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD Study Group).  In 2004, the Pacific Forum/USCSCAP took the lead in developing the CSCAP WMD Study Group as a vehicle for raising regional consciousness on important issues related to WMD proliferation. Its primary focus is the creation of an Asia Pacific Handbook and Action Plan to Prevent WMD Proliferation. In biannual meetings, the WMD Study Group is also examining regional attitudes toward the Proliferation Security Initiative and other counter-proliferation efforts and regimes, the prospects for the Six-Party Talks and potential means for facilitating the Korean Peninsula denuclearization process, regional threat perceptions and security outlooks,  missile proliferation, and ballistic missile defense. Two meetings were held in 2007, in San Francisco in February and in Jakarta in December. The San Francisco meeting directly preceded an ASEAN Regional Forum WMD Seminar; many ARF government officials also attended the CSCAP meeting in their private capacities, helping to create even closer links between the ARF and CSCAP.

In 2008, the CSCAP WMD Study Group will meet twice, to further develop specific recommendations for regional governments' consideration and for inclusion into the overall Action Plan. Core funding for CSCAP WMD work is provided by the Carnegie Corp., the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of State, and the Ploughshares Fund.

CSCAP Export Controls Experts Group (XCXG).  Under Pacific Forum/USCSCAP leadership, the WMD Study Group has formed an Export Controls Experts Group (XCXG) to assess national export control programs, identify vulnerabilities and shortcomings, and develop recommendations for improving both individual export control capacity and mutual cooperation. The XCXG has met three times: in Tokyo in 2005 and 2007 and in Beijing in 2006. In 2007, the XCXG met back to back with a Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) conference focused on export control cooperation. The XCXG will next meet in 2008. Core funding for the XCXG comes from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Previously, the Pacific Forum/USCSCAP also created a Nuclear Energy Experts Group (NEEG) to promote nuclear energy transparency, in part through the creation of an Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site [www.cscap.nuctrans.org], developed in cooperation with the Cooperative Monitoring Center at Sandia National Laboratories.

CSCAP Preventive Diplomacy Workshop.  Building on our previous work in the field of Preventive Diplomacy, the Pacific Forum held a workshop in October of 2007 in Brunei to examine the history of the ASEAN Regional Forum in relation to Preventive Diplomacy. This meeting explored the meaning of Preventive Diplomacy, the ARF’s efforts in the field, and the obstacles to additional progress. It proposed next steps for both track one and two to facilitate movement toward PD and even stage three of the ARF’s conceptual evolution, the elaboration of approaches to conflict resolution. This meeting was held back to back with an ARF seminar to maximize cross-fertilization of tracks one and two.  The U.S. State Department helped to support this effort.  As a follow-on, the Pacific Forum is working with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore to produce a study of best practices of preventive diplomacy for the ARF. This analysis will examine preventive diplomacy efforts by other regional organizations and the lessons they provide for the ARF.